The European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Union, has approved members of a new EU executive commission after nearly three weeks of negotiations.

The new lineup was approved early Thursday by a wide margin. The vote means incoming commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso will likely take office Monday.

After the vote, Mr. Barroso thanked the parliament for the strong vote of confidence and said he recognizes the responsibility that implies.

The newly-elected commission members were nominated by Mr. Barroso. The commission had been expected to be in place late last month, but Mr. Barroso withdrew his first nominees when parliament objected to some of them.